I'm expecting a very tough battle - Kubica
After the first double points finish in China three weeks ago, the Renault Formula One Team looks ahead to this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, the beginning of the European season. Robert Kubica expects a tough battle at Barcelona but is confident that he and his team will be able to fight for points.
Robert, after four races what is your assessment of your start to the season? "I think we should take a lot of positives from the first four races. If you had said to me at the start of the season, or even after Bahrain, that I would have scored 40 points and three top five finishes, I would have been more than happy. However, at the same time there has still been some frustration, especially in Shanghai where the safety car in the middle of the race definitely cost me a podium. But you have to accept that this is part of racing. Sometimes the luck goes your way and sometimes against you."
The team’s development rate is getting you right on the tail of Mercedes. It must be motivating to see the progress being made… "The whole team is working hard and it’s good that we’re making the most of our opportunities in the races. But it’s important to remain realistic because we still need some big steps to be at the front of the grid and fighting consistently with Red Bull and McLaren in normal conditions. The next race in Barcelona will be another big test for us because the return to Europe is usually a turning point in the season with many teams planning big upgrades to their cars."
Do you think the order of the teams will change again in Barcelona and that other teams may leapfrog ahead of you? "It’s something we always expect in Barcelona and a lot of the teams have big expectations for their new packages. We are not planning to bring any huge updates, but we will keep gradually improving the car, just like we did during the first four races. We have to wait and see how we compare with the others; maybe the order of the teams will be quite different compared to the start of the year."
What are your expectations for the weekend? "It’s the sort of circuit that all the drivers and teams know back to front so I’m expecting a very tough battle. All the teams will be very well prepared and usually get close to their potential so it’s important that we maximise our performance so that we can fight for points in the race."
Source Renault F1
